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The National Endowment for the Oceans (S.3641) co-sponsors Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Olympia Snowe have requested ORI to assist in adding a Republican Senator to co-sponsor the NEO bill. Last week Rob Moir, with a small group of ocean advocates led by the Ocean Conservancy, met with a number of Senate staffers on the Hill. Meeting in Senator Brown’s office were Dave Casoni of the MA Lobsterman’s Association, John Williamson, Seakeeper, Jim Lanard, Offshore Wind Development Coalition and Rob. Brown was the only Senator to join our meeting briefly. When he saw Lobsterman Dave Casoni, he enthusiastically took a leap over a patio chair to embrace him. Brown said that he looks forward to learning more about the NEO bill. Legislative directors in Snowe and Whitehouse offices concurred that Senator Brown would be worthy co-sponsor.
Speak out for our oceans and Great Lakes. Together we can make the Endowment a reality and healthy ocean and river ecosystems our future.
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What you can do to stem the Slime.
On this week’s episode of Moir’s Environmental Dialogues, Friends of Casco Bay (Portland Maine and north by east) BayKeeper Joe Payne and Associate Director Mary Cerullo talk with Rob about the slithering of green slime over the benthos. With increasing regularity and alarming spread green algal mats are covering clam flats and gobbling up oxygen making life difficult for ground fish and ground dwellers including lobsters. Joe tells of hypoxic, low-oxygen regions of Casco Bay where fish swim in and die. These assaults on ocean ecosystems are caused by excessive nutrients, mostly nitrogen and phosphates, flowing into them. Mary Cerullo describes BayScaping, a six-step program for homeowners on environmentally friendly lawn care. Whether you live in this watershed or another, BayScaping will save you money, free time for you on Saturdays, and save marine life, too!
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River Herring Catch Capped and Bycatch Dumping Reduced
New England Fishery Management Council met in Newport RI. They re-affirmed their commitment to protect spawning herring. The Herring Committee was directed to develop options to cap river herring catch and voted to include an additional accountability measure to help minimize the dumping of bycatch. Approval of the new management plan, Amendment 5, was delayed until next meeting because the managers found many areas needed analysis and greater clarification. This was the outcome we wanted because there was a failed effort to strip certain monitoring activities from the amendment. Delaying the decision will allow for a strong Amendment 5 with catch capped and reduced bycatch dumping.
Many thanks go out to ORI ecostewards for participating in this campaign. Your letters were delivered well before the meeting and incorporated in the information packets given to each manager. More than half of letters received came from ORI.
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ORI enables individuals to be better stewards of our planet by providing opportunities to take action on pressing localized and national issues to save our oceans, rivers, and wildlife. We are 20,000 ecostewards active in campaigns for strong environmental policies. We act with local groups to make an impact. Our impact was felt, voices heard, when President Obama signed the executive order for a National Ocean Policy. This victory was the culmination of thousands of your letters and rallies organized by ORI and the groups with whom we work.
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Discover how, with the knowledge of Rachel Carson and the courage of Achilles, individuals are making a difference for healthier oceans, rivers, watersheds and skies. Choose from twenty-nine podcast episodes of Moir's Environmental Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of Achilles. Also available free on iTunes, search "Moir's".
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Ocean River Institute
12 Eliot Street | Cambridge, MA 02138 | 617.661.6647 |
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